


Merry & Bright

by Softchelles



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, au where all the avengers are happy and alive and everything is fine, but other than that you don't need to have read the first one, takes place after sweater shopping bc they're engaged and in ugly holiday sweaters, this is just more holiday fluff and bullshit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 13:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16787467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Softchelles/pseuds/Softchelles
Summary: Ned's usually Peter's Plus One to the Avengers Christmas Party.But he's out of town.So he's going to have to have to take Michelle.Gross.OrPeter & Michelle go to a Christmas party at the Avengers Compound





	Merry & Bright

**Author's Note:**

> LOOK! I don't really write ~Avengers~ fics. Ultimately this little work is about Peter and Michelle and how they interact with the people around them when they're invited to an ugly sweater party with a bunch of superheroes. It's kind of a follow up to Sweater Shopping in that I imagine it takes place that night, in that they're engaged, in that they're obnoxiously in love and living their best lives.
> 
> So I've taken many creative liberties here with these brief Avengers cameos. Don't judge too harshly.
> 
> I have a bunch of lil holiday ideas that I'm working on, but this is a domestic fluff dumpster fire I could not shake from my mind. Is it the best? No. Am I posting it anyways? Yes. What about it?
> 
> As always you can find me on twitter @softchelles
> 
> Enjoy. Or don't. You do you.

❅❅❅ 

“I’m still so bummed I can’t go with you tonight.”  
“I know, dude. It’s not going to be the same without you.”

“I’m literally sitting right here.”  
Peter playfully shoved Michelle’s shoulder, careful not be too rough because she was driving and could easily end his life with a swerve of the steering wheel. 

Ned’s laugh cackled through the speakers of Peter’s phone. “Sorry, MJ. It’s just kind of our thing.”

It’s been their thing for years. Ned had always accompanied Peter to the holiday party at the compound. This was a tradition that dated back to when they were two dorks in high school totally dumfounded and amazed as they partied it up at Tony’s Christmas party. They had gotten older and learned to calm it down—or at least gotten better at hiding just how star struck they were to be surrounded by the _**Avengers.**_

“You’re both such losers. You know that, right?” Michelle asked, fighting off the urge to roll her eyes so that she could keep them focused on the road.

“Ouch. Peter, your fiancée is so _mean._ ”

“Yeah,” Peter mused, distracted. In this light, with the streetlights flickering over her face as their car passed underneath, her eyes looked like they were twinkling. They briefly met his own and he abruptly straightened his posture and cleared his throat. “But uh—have fun with your cousin.”

Michelle smirked, clearly amused and proud to have caught him staring, reveling in his embarrassment, cherishing the way he still got awkward and blushed in moments like this even though there had been years of moments like this. She shook her head and laughed, and Peter covered the phone so he could whisper, “Shut _up._ ”

“I’ll try,” Ned’s muffled groan sounded from beneath Peter’s grasp on the phone. “But her kids are nightmares. Every single one of them. Demons.”

“Yeah, but so are Clint’s. And they’re going to be there tonight,” Peter reminded him.

“True. Very true. I don’t envy you there. Have fun, guys.”

“Bye Ned,” Michelle ended the conversation for them all as Peter clicked his phone shut. He let out a sigh and fell back into his seat, opting to watch out the window as the scenery changed and they neared their destination. 

“Those kids are only nightmares because you enable them.” She spoke her opinion as if it were a fact. Peter gasped as if her words bruised him. 

“I do not.”

Michelle smirked. “We’ll see.”

It was true, because they barely had time to park their car before Peter was jumping out the passenger side door to greet the kids wreaking havoc outside the tower. 

“Peter!” Morgan yelled, jumping down from the statue she had been climbing and sprinting across the lawn. Peter ran across the grass and met the kid in the middle, catching her just as she jumped into his arms. The little girl shrieked as Peter spun her around in the air. 

“Peter!” Nathaniel’s voice bounced as he ran, sprinting until he collided with Peter’s left leg with a force so strong it nearly knocked him over. 

“Look at you!” Peter gasped, running his hands through the youngest Barton’s hair playfully. “You’re getting so big.”

“Yeah, I’m seven now.” 

“Yeah,” his older brother agreed as he jogged up to greet peter. “Seven and still a huge _pain in the ass._ ”

“Language, Cooper!” Laura Barton yelled from the steps of the compound—the steps Michelle was watching from with an amused told-you-so smirk on her face. He wanted to shrug, to claim he didn’t know what he was talking about, but before he had time to respond he was being tackled to the ground by the Barton boys while a giggling Cassie Lang filmed the whole thing on her cellphone, undoubtedly documenting this on social media so that she could relive this moment over and over again in the future.

“Oh, you think that’s funny?” Peter challenged.

Cassie smirked, standing her ground. “Kind of.”

Peter lurched forward, grabbing at her ankle and pulling her towards the ground with the rest of the kids. “Stop! No!” she screamed while laughing and trying to protect her phone from the dangers of the pile of wrestling kids. 

“Children,” Michelle sighed, earning a nod of agreement from both Pepper and Laura watching from the sidelines. 

“We thought it was a good idea to let them loose for a bit, you know. Let them burn off a little steam,” Pepper explained.

“Alright, alright. That’s enough!” Laura announced. “That’s enough. Get off of Peter and let him come inside.”

“Why don’t we all come inside?” Pepper suggested loudly, earning a unanimous groan from the sea of kids. “No, come on. Santa’s coming soon. We should go get ready.”

“Santa’s coming?” Morgan gasped innocently. Santa always managed to make an appearance. The little Stark was just too young to remember his previous appearances. 

“Yeah he is,” Peter gasped for air, trying to shake free from the brawl that had broken out when he’d arrived. The second he was free from the still rough-housing Barton boys he started walking towards the compound “Come on, guys. Let’s go.”

“What was that?” Michelle blinked, looking like she was confused and trying to recall their conversation from earlier in the car. “—About not egging them on?”

“I was _attacked._ ”

“Right.”

And together they entered the party.

Every year Tony Stark threw two parties.  
One, which would be closer to the holiday, for his company—where everyone dressed in their finest gowns and suits and shared small talk over glasses of champagne while the jazz band played softly in the background. Peter would make an appearance there later—because to the rest of the world he was just a boy that landed the internship of a lifetime and never left. 

But the reality of his relationship with Tony Stark meant he got invited to the real party, the celebration reserved for Tony’s closest friends. Those closest friends just happened to be the Avengers.

And _yeah,_ Peter was one of them.  
It was still crazy, after all of these years, to belong to the team. He had a place in their honorary family. 

And now he got to go to their party with his fiancée on his arm. 

And that was _nuts._

“Hey Pete!” 

Tony greeted them as they entered. They were supposed to be wearing ugly sweaters, and maybe his was if you were blind. But Peter wasn’t, and could tell that Tony’s ‘ugly’ Christmas sweater was still cashmere. The arc reactor emblem embroidered onto his chest was vastly different from the ornaments, snowflakes, and elves stitched onto Peter’s. 

And maybe 15 year old Peter would have felt intimidated.  
But this version of Peter was older. He had seen more, done more. And Michelle Jones was by his side, wearing a sweater just as decorative.

So the smile on his face was genuine when he greeted his mentor. “Mr. Stark!”

Tony pulled him in for a side hug, squeezing his shoulder gently in the process. “It’s good to see you and—wait. Where’s Leeds?”

“He got caught up in some family stuff,” Peter explained with a frown.

“So now he’s stuck with me.” They both turned to face Michelle when she interjected. Tony eyed her carefully. “Ah, Miss Jones. Pleasure to see you, as always.”

“It’s been a while.”

The dynamic between Michelle and Tony was—interesting. But all differences got shoved to the side for a night like tonight, which is why Tony offered a smile in response. “I haven’t seen you kids since he popped the question.”

“Bold of you to assume he asked.”

“Well did he?”

“That’s beside the point.” 

“You’re going to have to tell us all about it later,” Pepper interrupted, weaving herself gracefully into the conversation. “But for now… Tony. I need your help in the kitchen.”

Peter silently thanked the gods for Pepper Potts. 

“Duty calls,” Tony winked before letting Pepper drag him away.

When Peter looked back at Michelle she was wearing another one of her signature smirks. This one was the one where she looked like she wanted to make a snide remark, but was fighting it back, using every ounce of strength in her body to bite her tongue. “Be nice,” Peter warned.

“What? I didn’t even say anything!” she insisted.

“But you thought it.”

“Okay but I didn’t say it.”

“This is why Ned gets to come to the ugly sweater party and you don’t.”

“His sweater isn’t even _ugly._ What's the point of an ugly sweater party if you're not even going to wear an _ugly sweater?_ ”

She was right. But he gave her a look—one of his looks, the look that let her know she was right, she was valid, but he hoped she would be gracious enough to drop it. She tried to ignore it, but unfortunately the look also featured those dumb puppy eyes staring back at her, silently begging her to move on. She was a sucker for those eyes. She was a sucker for that face. She was a sucker for Peter Parker. “Ugh. Fine. Whatever. Let’s go.”

Even though this party was the more low-key of the two holiday events, Tony still pulled out all the stops. Like the television that took up 90% of the wall space that was playing Home Alone. 

“The second one’s better,” Michelle had grumbled.

Or the fireplace, silver and sleek and fully automated with more settings than a fire should require. 

Or the photobooth, which Peter insisted they go in. She tried to fight it. Her feet planted into the ground and she tried with all of her might to resist as he dragged her towards the booth. “Oh come on,” Peter begged. “For me. It’s Christmas!” 

“It’s still November.”

That was true. The party had to line up with all of their conflicting superhero schedules, and one of the only days that worked just happened to be after Thanksgiving.

“Please?”

He was stronger.  
And had those stupid dumb eyes.  
Ugh.

“Fine.”

He pulled back the curtain and shimmied into the booth. She followed closely after, opting to sit on his lap instead of squeezing onto the bench next to him. The screen flashed to life and prompted them to get ready for their first pose. 

“Smile,” Peter taunted.

“No.”

He grinned.  
She deadpanned.  
The first picture was done.  
The second was him holding her cheeks, trying to physically force a smile onto her face. Her nose was crinkled as she fought back.

The third was her laughing, trying to wiggle out of his grasp as he pulled her face closer to his.

In the fourth, neither of them were smiling. They were too busy kissing. They didn’t think anyone would see.  
That is, until they exited the booth and saw that the screen had been broadcasting their shenanigans to the party outside. The video played on repeat while they waited for the photos to print.

“Disgusting,” Sam said in passing, an equally disgusted Bucky Barnes walking at his side.

❅❅❅

Dinner was great. Not that the fancy food at the other parties wasn’t great, too. But Pepper was a great cook, and Tony served as a great sous-chef. And the home-cooked meal matched the atmosphere of the party. 

After, when the kids were enjoying cookies, the adults were enjoying drinks, and Peter and Michelle found themselves in the middle as they juggled both, there was a loud overly dramatized doorbell sound effect. “It appears as though Mr. Claus has arrived,” an AI announced.

The kids—and _Thor,_ all cheered and raced into the living room to crowd around the man that was definitely not Rhodey in a beard. 

“Merry Christmas, everybody!” Santa- boomed, dropping his oversized bag to the floor as he sat down. “Who wants presents?”

The kids cheered yet again as not-Rhodey started to hand out wrapped boxes. “Let’s see. Here’s one for Nathaniel… and Miss Cassie…. Oh wow, Nat. Looks like you made the nice list this year.”

“Barely,” Natasha smirked, taking the box from his hand.

Gifts started getting exchanged left and right. Eventually Peter’s name was called and he was given a large golden box. He tore into the wrapping, fitting right in with the kids who had eagerly opened their presents before him. The lid lifted up to reveal a silver necklace. He pulled the chain from the box and examined the chain, recognizing the charm on the end as the spider insignia. “Oh wow, uh. Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

“Oh no, that one’s not from me,” Tony responded from the other end of the room. “That one’s from your friends in Wakanda.”

“What?!” Peter’s eyes widened, eyeing the necklace in his hands once more. “That’s not—this can’t be—no way.”

Michelle glanced at Shuri at the other end of the room just in time to catch her fist bump her brother.

This confirmed what she already knew.  
That wasn’t _just_ a necklace.

“We can go over the logistics later, Parker. It’s just a prototype, so don’t get too excited.”

But despite the Wakandan princess’s warning, there was an excited grin that would not vanish plastered on Peter’s face. He looked so excited—so happy. 

And Michelle lived for moments like that.

She was so caught up in Peter’s happiness she barely registered her own name being called out.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“It says Michelle Jones… I believe that’s you,” Rhodey/Santa explained as he handed her a red envelope. “Merry Christmas.”

Michelle looked to Peter, who was still intensely focused on the necklace in his hands.

Huh.

She tore the envelope open and pulled out the letter.

“What’s it say?” Lila Barton asked, peering over her shoulder.

“You’ve been invited to assist Pepper Potts in overseeing the Stark STEAM Programs—what does that—what is that?” Michelle looked up at Pepper and Tony.

“Sort of an early wedding gift, of sorts,” Tony answered vaguely.

“You remember how we were talking about how we were talking about insufficient funds for extracurricular educational programs in schools,” Pepper started.  
“Yeah, but what’s that got to do with this?”  
“Well, Stark industries has always believed in investing,” Pepper continued. “We believe investing in our kids is investing in our future. So we’re starting these programs that will connect kids with the resources and clubs to get the education they need to pursue their passions.”

“And we need someone to help run it,” Tony added. “Figured since you and Peter are tying the knot, we’ll be seeing a lot more of you. Wondered if that would be something you’re interested in.”

“Wh—yeah. That’s definitely something that interests me. I—“ Michelle looked to Peter, who was grinning from ear to ear. But this wasn’t the grin from earlier, when he had been examining his own gift. This was a grin that said he knew about hers even before she did. 

That little _shit._

“You _knew?!”_

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Somewhere in the background Tony talked about how they could all iron (heh) out the details later, but all Michelle could do was focus on Peter.

She could see her future forming right before her eyes. She was marrying her best friend, like they were really doing that. He’d keep superhero-ing it up. She would get to work in the program of her dreams. They were both going to be working towards improving the lives of their community, of their people, of their home. 

Their home.  
Their life.  
_Their future._

“I love you.” The words fell from her lips before she could stop them, before she could think about how soft and gushy and _lame_ they were, how they could damage her street cred with the rest of the team. 

But when he smiled back at her, crinkles formed around those stupid dumb eyes, and she didn’t care. Not one bit.

“Merry Christmas, Em.”

She smiled, genuinely, back.

“Merry Christmas.”


End file.
